On Sept. 16, 1982, a massacre of between 1,200 and 1,400 Palestinian men, women and children at the hands of Israeli-allied Christian Phalange militiamen began in west Beirut's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.

On This Date

By The Associated Press

1630

The Massachusetts village of Shawmut changed its name to Boston.

1638

France's King Louis XIV was born.

1810

Mexico began a successful revolt against Spanish rule.

1857

The song "Jingle Bells" by James Pierpont was copyrighted under its original title, "One Horse Open Sleigh."

1893

Hundreds of thousands of settlers took part in a land run in Oklahoma's "Cherokee Strip."

1908

General Motors was formed in Flint, Mich., by William Durant.

1919

The American Legion was incorporated by an act of Congress.

1940

Rep. Samuel T. Rayburn, D-Texas, the longest-serving House speaker in history, was first elected to the post.

1940

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the first peacetime military draft in U.S. history.

1966

The Metropolitan Opera opened its new home at New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

1972

"The Bob Newhart Show" premiered on CBS.

1974

President Gerald R. Ford announced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam War deserters and draft-evaders.

2002

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced that Iraq had unconditionally accepted the return of U.N. weapons inspectors.

2004

Hurricane Ivan plowed into the Gulf Coast with 130 mph wind and a major storm surge; Ivan was blamed for at least 115 deaths, 43 in the United States.